Godson Irikefe, Abuja
June 26, 2015 – A civil society group, called Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has attributed the problems in the National Assembly as it pertains to leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives to weak internal control mechanism of the All Progressive Congress(APC).
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja, Executive Director, CISLAC, Mr. Auwal Ibrahim Musa said the APC as a ruling party has not managed this in a manner that will enhance the confidence of the people that it is capable of delivering good governance.
“While it is understandable that it should decide to a large extent who among its members should hold key positions, it must not insist in a contest in a legislature that has only a marginal majority. It cannot expect its words to be final especially in the situation in which it has often preferred to dispense with internal democracy in favor of control by leaders.
“Indeed the ongoing development in the National Assembly could be traced to inability and weak internal control system by the leadership of APC to inculcate discipline in its members, revealing lack of internal democracy.”, it said and reminded the APC that Nigerians voted it not for its members to engage in needless leadership struggle but to serve the needs of the population that has witnessed unmitigated governance disaster in the last years.
“We believe that the most recent development leading to the emergence of the new leaderships in the National Assembly would serve as a lesson to all political parties to prioritise adequate internal control and inculcate discipline in its members through observance of internal democracy. We demand that such development should be embraced in the interest of nation’s democracy”, CISLAC said.
It appealed to legislators at both National and State Houses of Assembly to shun needless leadership crisis and focus on the development of well-articulated and constructive legislative agenda that will positively affect the well-being and standards of living of the citizens, and governance in the country.
“The National Assembly has the sole responsibility to promptly address the ongoing crisis and avert unwarranted repetition and consequence in the State Houses of Assembly. We strongly urge that the ongoing crises in the National Assembly be addressed within the legislative Code of Conduct to promote value of excellence, professionalism in the legislators’ performance; and ensure civility and responsible conduct inside and outside of the National Assembly to commensurate with the trust placed in legislators by the electorate.
“We call on the elected members to reach out to the aggrieved legislators and maintain peace within their party to avert conflict between private interests and official duties and uphold effective functionality of the Presidency in the best interest of the nation.
“ We urge the APC to realise that Nigerians are not interested in who are legislative leaders but what can the party do to ensure that the legislature works hand-in-hand with the presidency to deliver their campaign promises of providing responsive and responsible governance that is prudent and corrupt-free”, CISLAC said.
